A housing advocate in St. John's says more affordable accommodations are needed to ensure single parents and the working poor don't fall through the cracks.

Yvette Walton, the head of the N.L. Single Parents' Association, told CBC News on Monday that rent is rising too quickly on the Northeast Avalon.

"Three bedroom rents, four or five years ago, were $650. Now they're $1,100 to $1,300 and that's pay your own utilities on top of it," said Walton.

She's says that's causing huge amounts of stress, especially for single-parent families.

"People are couch surfing - the stress is spreading. It impacts more than just the family who's having trouble finding another place to live. It's holding up their lives, it's impacting their health. I have people suffering from depression, they're kind of in despair because they're frightened because they can't see where the answer is going to be ... the solution is more affordable housing," said Walton.

"Newfoundland and Labrador Housing has a waiting list of several hundred in the metro area. The low vacancy rate combined with the money it costs to make a move is putting people in crises beyond belief," said Walton.